Best epoxy

[ajremington68]

Going to piece together some live rock I got to make a little scale, what is the best way to get them to go together, and stay together? Also does the rock have to be dry to use a epoxy?

 

[musel101]

I usually get that coral life epoxy from Petco. It seems to work pretty good for what I needed to and the rock could be wet when you put it.

 

[ajremington68]

I usually get that coral life epoxy from Petco. It seems to work pretty good for what I needed to and the rock could be wet when you put it.

So if the rock is wet it is okay to use the epoxy? Like could you take it out and build it and then put it back in the aquarium to cure? Got live rock but don’t want the bacteria to die off but after lots of videos, rock that is cured dry for 24hr compared to wet is a lot stronger.

 

[SpyC]

Jb water weld is my go to

 

[ajremington68]

Seen this being used in a BRS video does anyone have any experience adding two pieces of live rock together and letting them cure in water?

Amazon.com

 

[ajremington68]

Jb water weld is my go to

Is this best for getting rock together and letting them cure in water?

 

[SpyC]

Is this best for getting rock together and letting them cure in water?

I always use superglue and putty when puttying rock

 

[ajremington68]

I always use superglue and putty when puttying rock

Gotcha, more the better for the two? Also what color does the putty come out once it is cured

 

[LgTas]

Seen this being used in a BRS video does anyone have any experience adding two pieces of live rock together and letting them cure in water?

Amazon.com

I've used this exact one. Worked amazing for dry rock cured out of water.

I found that it didn't bind as well if cured under water. In other words, it would easily come away from the rock as a solid piece.

I would do my best to cure it out of water otherwise start small and test it to see if it holds with an underwater cure.

Check my tank thread for pics of the scape I made using it.

 

[SpyC]

Gotcha, more the better for the two? Also what color does the putty come out once it is cured

White and always better to use the two . Take the rock out of the tank, glue and putty. Hold in place for a few minutes, then plop in the tank. Turn your skimmer off though. It'll make the skimmer go ham.

 

[musel101]

Seen this being used in a BRS video does anyone have any experience adding two pieces of live rock together and letting them cure in water?

Amazon.com

That’s the same thing Petco epoxy

 

[ajremington68]

Cont. best way to epoxy two rocks together? Do you push the epoxy into the rocks? What if the rock you are trying to make it go vertical, can you put it in the rock and push the two rocks together?

 

[DanyL]

I answered a similar question not too long ago, including how to glue unstable structures within your tank, hope this helps.

I use a combination of super glue, lots of epoxy (Aqua Mend) and when building unstable scapes I also use a fishing line.

Basically - the super glue makes the first contact points to temporarily hold the scape in place.

The epoxy is than used to wrap these contact points quite generously.

And finally, the fishing line - when the scape I built is a little wobbly and isn’t stable enough, I secure it by tying the fishing line to a higher location (I use the lighting mount) and going underneath the newly glued rock, sometimes in multiple places to firmly support it until the epoxy fully dries (a day, sometimes two).

It is advised to ask for another person for help, 4 arms are better than 2.

First few times feel somewhat complicated, but overtime you get used to it and it becomes easier to execute.

 

[esquare]

I just had to reattach 2 pieces of my rock and went with super glue first to hold in place and then E-Marco 400 mortar. They say to let the mortar cure about 2 hours out of water, I believe, then it can finish curing in the tank.

 

[Cell]

Most of these will cure underwater, but not stick to wet surfaces so you would need to use superglue to get it to stay in place initially.

 

[shakacuz]

as mentioned, use the super glue - epoxy - super glue method.

epoxy on its own will have trouble sticking/holding onto a wet surface, but you have to act quickly once you put the epoxy underwater as it'll start hardening. i make a ball of epoxy then generously apply superglue to one side, put inside tank and apply firm pressure to where you want to epoxy to hold, but make sure the first point of contact is the super glue. mush it around to get the super glue to adhere to the rock and for the epoxy to also spread out, then make a sandwich with the rock. press and hold for about a minute, then release. you can then apply more epoxy around the edges.

 

[ajremington68]

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[ajremington68]

Took me 6hrs sad to say, but hey I’m pretty happy with it for my first time ever and it’s exactly what I had in mind. Gunna be a big change from all the rocks just lying on the bottom.

 

[Mikeltee]

Mortar is the best it you are doing something crazy. It can be submerged at 3 hours. Liverock will be fine if you keep spritzing it. I got a piece of LR that traveled 5 hours dry and the sponge and critters were fine. Any 2 part putty will do. Epoxy wouldn't hold this structure. Epoxy is stupid expensive as well if you do something big.

 

[esquare]

Took me 6hrs sad to say, but hey I’m pretty happy with it for my first time ever and it’s exactly what I had in mind. Gunna be a big change from all the rocks just lying on the bottom.

Very nice